How one idea led to 10x growth

Have you ever been struck by an idea that changed your life?

This may sound like it only applies to religious awakenings, like that of St Paul on the road to Damascus. But it’s actually very relevant to the business world.

One idea can change how you see business and your role in it. Since we spend most of our waking hours at work, one idea can change your life.

This is exactly what happened to Bracken Darrell.?

Darrell led Logitech for 10 years. Under his leadership, Logitech expanded into more than 20 new product categories, more than doubled revenue, and achieved a tenfold increase in market capitalization.

Darrell started his career as an accountant at Arthur Andersen, with the aim of climbing the American corporate ladder. He got his MBA at Harvard Business School, and so far, this looks like the progression of another smart business guy.

But then he got a job at Braun, the German home electronics company.

At the time, Braun was already a global household name, because of the work of legendary designer Dieter Rams.

Rams was obsessed with the people for whom he made toasters and shavers. He famously said that:

"Indifference towards people and the reality in which they live is actually the one and only cardinal sin in design.”

Rams didn’t only apply this philosophy to making things. He believed it applies to everything: how you run a company, your personal relationships, political governance and so on.

Focus on the human first, and build the rest around that. This bottom up approach became the foundation for what we now call “design thinking.”

Darrell came to work at Braun years after Rams turned it into a worldwide success, but Rams’s ideas still permeated the company. This was Darrell's "road to Damascus" moment.

He realised that the top down approach he learned at business school wasn’t enough if you want to innovate and grow.?Spreadsheets and strategy have their place, but they are meaningless without a focus on the customer and the bravery to experiment.

Darrell became a keen convert to design thinking, and one of its most vocal proponents among business leaders.

Design thinking helped him turn around Logitech and increase shareholder value 10 times during his tenure as a CEO.?Speaking on The Storied Future podcast, Darrell said:

“The next great CEOs will be designers. Whether they officially trained in it or not, they’ll think that way because design is an iterative process aimed at imagining a future state and delivering it through new and existing technologies.”

Oddly, despite the very obvious benefits to shareholders, employees and customers, most corporate leaders still don’t really understand what design thinking is or how to use it in their work.

This is why, in the latest Tech for Non-Techies podcast episode, I shared how Darrell used design thinking principles to double revenue, increase profits and drive shareholder returns.

Listen to 178. How Logitech grew profits 4x in 3 years to learn:?

• What Bracken Darrell did to?turn around?Logitech's fortunes
• Where he?cut spending?and where he?increased it
• Which?key hire?helped him turn Logitech around
• How?design thinking?changed the entire company from the inside

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If you would like to find out how design thinking could help your team innovate with confidence, just reply to this email and I’ll send you information on our most popular workshops.

Speak soon,

Sophia